Spyker C8 Spyder
The Spyker has a reputation for being a bit of a handful. New PH scribbler Phil James, aka BossCerbera, isn't scared...
As Clarkson once remarked, it would be better to put a spike in the middle of a steering wheel rather than an airbag if you want to make people concentrate on the job in hand. “Easy cars” are like playing video games with all the cheats switched on, or always opting for the beginner’s sudoku puzzles. Where’s the challenge, the fun, in that?
So… the Spyker. It costs over £200,000, packs about 400bhp of Audi-sourced 4.2 litre 40V V8 and – by modern supercar standards – isn’t even remotely close to being the Top Trump for acceleration, top speed or a lap time. To some people’s eyes its styling is “a bit weird”. Some think its interior is just too much. Apparently these cars have already bitten road testers. Not looking good? Well, read on…
The Spyker name is a revival of an ancient Dutch marque from the early 20th Century which was renowned for its innovative cars and aeroplanes. Spyker’s badge and detailing have an aeronautical theme to celebrate this. As a point of note, Spyker produced an all-wheel-drive car in 1903, the 60/80. It was also, Spyker claims, the first passenger car to use a six-cylinder engine and have brakes on all four wheels. In the period preceding WW1, there was a luxury car market slump that resulted in Spyker merging with the Dutch Aircraft Factory. During the war Spyker made around 100 aircraft for Dutch Biggles.
The modern Spyker car is a showcase in aluminium. It is mind-boggling to conceive of what the tooling costs for this car must have been. It’s also clear that Spyker has fully exploited modern CAD/CAE and CNC technologies to manufacture the most exquisite switchgear and details. There appears to be absolutely nothing sourced from anybody else’s parts bin.
The more you study this car at close quarter, the more you marvel at its quality – and the styling grows on you with familiarity. The Spyder’s removable roof is the only area where criticism might be leveled but then this car is primarily about having its roof off. In this respect it makes the same compromises as the similarly expensive Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster, the roof being little more than a weather proofing accessory. Roofless, the quality is utterly beyond question. Indeed it has the unique feature of having no frames on the top edges of the door glass and windscreen – it really looks like an old aeroplane cockpit’s wraparound screen.
In the supercar tradition you climb over a wide sill into a richly upholstered bucket seat and then pull down the door. Eccentricity abounds in the interior – the 4-spoke propeller steering wheel, the exposed gear linkage, the engine-turned dashboard full of meaty aluminium toggle switches, retro-style gauges and propeller air vents. Anything not machined and polished aluminium is covered with quilted leather and alcantara. Modern-day Spyker founder Victor Muller has a penchant for pre-war Bugattis and I guess that’s the closest comparison to the Spyker’s incredible dashboard. Just like a pre-war car, there is no wireless and the reason for that becomes clear the moment you complete the engine starting sequence of lifting up the ignition switch cover, flicking the ignition on and then pressing the start button. This might just be the best V8 exhaust note ever. No, really, EVER.
My first miles were therefore tentative but a perfect opportunity to savour the sensory delights of just being in the Spyker on the move. Unusual as the gearshift and steering wheel look, they are simply wonderful to use. The gear shift’s throws are short and
It does shift though, the biggest shove coming from riding the torque plateau rather than wringing the engine out. The six gears are closely stacked and, in the absence of a hi-fi, I found myself playing tunes with the exhaust note. Baaaaaah ….Baaaah ….Baah up the gears and Baah… Blip… Baaaah… Blip… Baaaaaah down the gears. The steering is accurate and the car turns in honestly, although the steering lock is limited – the tightest hairpins can require use of reverse gear (or a stab of the throttle!). The ride is firm but composed, the Spyker barely rolls in corners but somehow remains compliant and rattle-free on poor B-road surfaces. The brakes take some getting used to – there is no servo so the pedal requires real force to stop the car. There’s ABS for emergencies but you’ll rarely trigger it. Oh, and there’s no traction control.
What makes it bite? Overdriving it by attacking corners can unsettle either end of the car and mid-corner lifting off the throttle – in other words the Spyker is not tolerant of clumsiness. However, be smooth, read the road surface and the Spyker has terrific poise and grip. Handling is neutral with a whiff of understeer to let you know the contact patches are struggling before you neutralize it with a bit more power. It’s very satisfying to find the groove in this car – which takes me back to my opening paragraph. I had to
The Spyker is a car with a big personality and masses of character. I couldn’t help my imagination running away, it made me laugh out loud and recall childhood dogfighting games of running around with arms outstretched shouting “Raaaaaaaar!” If I owned one I’d go out in the dead of night with a flying jacket and coat hanger-reinforced scarf, chomping on a fat cigar and do lots of Dr Evil laughing. Other times I’d just sit in the garage and study it. It’s a real feel-good car that can make any journey into an adventure – real or imagined!
There really is nothing else like the Spyker. It’s as loopy and ‘far out’ as, maybe, a TVR but it’s built like a Swiss watch and detailed like a Fabergé egg. Is it worth its hefty price tag? I think it is. The world hasn’t seen this level of craftsmanship and originality in coachbuilt cars since the 1930s. Many cars are faster, the majority of cars are considerably cheaper but thumbing through car statistics for objective comparisons is to completely and utterly miss the point: nothing is more SPECIAL than a Spyker …unless it’s something still more expensive. On that basis, the Spyker might even be considered a snip.
See the video of the Spyker being put through its paces in the Scottish Highlands here
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.Two points worry me though. The last cars I saw with such an individual interior? TVRs. Bespoke-machined aluminium knobs and all... and we know what happened to TVR - does a car really need to cost that much in order to make money on that kind of thing (in the CNC machining era)?
The other, perhaps more important - this week there's been news that Ascari may be in trouble; and by coincidence the other day I watched an old Top Gear review of the Ascari where the comment was made that driving skill does not necessarily increase commensurately with bank balance. At a time when it is predicted that the disposable income of that category of people who can afford £200k 'toys' will very likely be reduced, can Spyker survive making something that is difficult to drive - i.e., are there enough people around who will appreciate it?
have to agree with you on the sound of that engine 
Open the doors with the sense of drama that conveys, get in, then start the car by pushing a bog-standard vandal proof switch, with its luxurious resonances of NCP car park lifts. You could also pause to cast your eye over the £4 toggle switches and the switch guards which, if not actually liberated from a Mini, suggest it was a busy Friday afternoon in the Spyker design studio when they were signed off.
So I take it that you've never sat in a Spyker, let alone driven one.
I can assure you, there is a world of difference between a Mini and this car.
Everything is handcrafted, in metal, polished and quality. Yes, there are cars that are faster and cheaper, but the Spyker is such an event, both in its tactile sensations and its drive that you very rarely feel left wanting for something else.
Stunning car!
Come on Tommy, wake up and have your say!!
Great article as well.....................
Car reviews should not all be about 0 - 60 and BHP, especially (as mentioned) that most people who can afford such cars dont have the driver skill to drive such masterpieces.
and as for 200k 
they are having a Turkish 
So I take it that you've never sat in a Spyker, let alone driven one.
I take issue with this assertion:
but that the starter isn't one of these:
?
It is a car that commands attention and almost seems to demand controversy and that is what exotic cars like this are all about. I for one am glad that automobiles like this exist and I have an aching desire to own one.
Great write up by the way Phil
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